The present invention is directed to a system and process for cleansing brine used in a food-chilling circuit.
During the processing of various meat products, the products normally must be cooled after being cooked and prior to being packaged in order to prevent spoilage by reducing the opportunity for growth of undesired bacteria. For example, in the processing and packaging of sausage, the sausage is normally stuffed into casings, flavored with liquid smoke, cooked to desired temperature, cooled to an appropriate temperature, and then packaged. Government regulations to a large extent dictate the safe temperatures to which a product must be cooked and cooled and often prescribe the rate at which a particular product must reach the chilled temperature.
One commonly used method of chilling a meat product involves cascading a chilled brine over the meat product in a brine shower. The chilled brine is supplied to the brine shower by a brine chiller which uses standard refrigeration equipment to reduce the temperature of the brine. In order to increase the efficiency of this chilling process, brine that cascades off of and chills the meat product is collected in a sump and then returned to the brine chiller to be rechilled and recirculated to the brine shower. This arrangement allows for continuous recirculation of the brine to maintain a constant temperature within the brine shower. New brine is added to the recirculating chilling circuit as needed to maintain a constant volume of brine in the circuit.
The brine that repeatedly cascades over the meat product in the brine shower collects small meat particles, microorganisms and bacteria. The continuous use of the brine throughout a day or cycle of processing results in accumulation of these contaminants within the recirculating brine. Once the contaminants reach a predetermined level, the brine becomes unsuited for use. The brine is then, typically at the end of the processing day or cycle or after a maximum of five days under certain conditions, drained into the waste water system of the locality where the processing plant is located, or otherwise released into the environment. New brine is added to the chilling circuit prior to any additional processing. This periodic replacement of the brine in the chilling circuit allows the contaminant level to be kept within governmental standards.
However, as is apparent, the brine discharged to the waste water system or the environment contains relatively high concentrations of chloride. Oftentimes, the chloride level exceeds the allowable limit for the water treatment system or exceeds the allowable standards set for discharging the brine to the environment without further treatment. These problems associated with brine disposal result in increased costs for using brine-chilling systems, and thus, reduce the attractiveness of such systems to meat processors.
Therefore, a brine-chilling system is needed wherein the brine can be cleansed to remove contaminants, and thus reused to avoid or reduce the problems associated with the disposal of chloride containing brine.